A federal judge ruled on Friday that while jokes based on current events are entitled to "thin" copyright protection, a trial will test whether the writers of Conan lifted material from Alex Kaseberg's social media feed and blog.

Kaseberg takes credit for over a thousand jokes used by Jay Leno and has published material in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He asserts in California federal court that the copyrights on five of his jokes from December 2014 to June 2015 were infringed by Conan.

U.S. District Court judge Janis Sammartino rejected Kaseberg's claims on two jokes, but determined there were genuine disputes as to material facts on three jokes about Caitlyn Jenner, Tom Brady, and the Washington Monument.

The writers tried to argue that the jokes in question used facts, which are not protected by copyright, and commonly used expressions — though the judge conducted a much more detailed joke-theft analysis, telling the court:

Back in July, Robert Alexander Kaseberg filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in California against Conan O'Brien, TBS, Conan Executive Producer Jeff Ross, and head writer Mike Sweeney, claiming that four jokes from his blog and Twitter account were used on Conan.